Starym Moonblade
}} History The long sword originally known as the Starym Moonblade, ''also known as Bladeshee and Darkmoon, was forged and enchanted by mages and smiths of Myth Drannor centuries before the Time of Troubles. Moonblades were conceived by the Council of Myth Drannor as a test of character of noble moon elf family lineages. The swords were to be inherited from one blood relative to another and would violently reject, and possibly kill, any potential bearers who were found unworthy. If the last beater of a line was found unworthy, the ''moonblade would become dormant. Worthy inheritors of a moonblade could add one magical power during their tenure as sword wielder derived from their needs or nature. The noble moon elf family that retained the most moonblades for the longest period of time eventually would become the royal house of Evermeet after a selection process lasting many centuries. Early in the history of the city later to be known as Myth Drannor (long before the moonblades where forged), the elf ruler Eltargrim invited humans, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes to join in fellowship with the elves and help build what would become the City of Beauty. Not all the elves agreed with their ruler, however, and one prominent noble family, the Starym elf family, left Myth Drannor and moved west to the Thunder Peaks and beyond, where they largely faded into history. Long after their departure, a minor moon elven branch of the Starym family returned to Myth Drannor and lived there until the city's destruction. This return was viewed with suspicion by many of Myth Drannor's citizens, as many suspected the family of sedition and treason against the city. When the moonblades were first forged, the Starym nobles of Myth Drannor demanded a blade for their family as well. Since no wrongdoing by the family had ever been proven, the city's leaders had no choice but to accede to their request. The sword that would later be known as Darkmoon was forged and presented to the family's patriarch, Illitran Starym. Most expected the blade to reject its first wielder and immediately fall dormant, but this did not occur. Whispers suggested the family had employed fell sorcery to warp the moonblade's magic, but, again, nothing was ever proven. With the aid of Moander, god of corruption, Illitran secretly employed special magics to eliminate the character-test powers of the moonblade, causing them to become inactive in the instant after drawing the blade but before the sword could judge his character. The Starym moonblade's magic was altered to deliver a powerful electrical jolt to any wielder not of pure elven lineage, but to accept any pure-blooded elf wielder regardless of character. The surrounding mythal of Myth Drannor imbued the sword with a trace of Illitran's spirit and a nascent sentience to fill the moral void created by Illitran's magic. The second bearer of the Starym moonblade was the patriarchs first son, Venali Starym. He wielded it adequately, although without great distinction, for many years. During the assault by the Army of Darkness, Venali hid in the family crypts, concerned more with protecting his personal fortune than with the city's fate. When the crypt was discovered by a group of fiends during the battle, the moonblade wielder imbued the sword with the ability to teleport to relative safety outside of the mythal, the mythal's prohibition on teleport magics was warped into preventing the Starym moonblade from ever again entering or moving about Myth Drannor except by physical means. Venali fled to other Starym family holdings hidden deep within the Hullack Forest. There he died of a strange wasting disease, and the moonblade was padded on to his young elf niece, and elf battle wizard known as Seldanna the Cold. Seldanna helped rebuild the Starym family fortunes for many decades by sponsoring a long series of raids on surrounding human and dwarven cities, particularly those in the ever-encroaching kingdom of Cormyr. Her magics augmented the moonblade's sentience even further, instilling in it an overwhelming sense of greed and the ability to infallibly locate priceless gems and precious metals. Seldanna and much of the Starym clan were eventually tracked down and slain in punishment for their crimes by a half-elf ranger descended from the Llundlar noble house of Myth Drannor, and the moonblade passed to Seldanna's only surviving son, known to sages today only as the Scourge. The Scourge and a small band of fanatical elf followers fled to the Stonelands where the renegade Starym noble helped found the Eldreth Veluuthara (Victoriou''s Blade of the People'' in an ancient elven tongue). this secretive fellowship of elves is still active today and has been responsibly for the deaths of many humans and elven half-breeds (half-elves) over the years. The Scourge instilled in the moonblade a strong hatred of non-elves, and a special purpose of destroying all humans and elf half-breeds. Unbeknownst to the Scourge, the moonblade also altered itself so that is chose the additional power granted to the sword every generation it was wielded by a member of the Starym clan. It gave itself the power to steal a fraction of its wielder's sentience and spirit to augment its own, beginning with the Scourge, and became truly sentient in its own right. The Scourge was eventually poisoned by his only child and daughter, known today only as Black Lotus, who desired the moonblade's magic for herself. Soon after, Black Lotus fled the Eldreth, who began to suspect her of causing her father's death. The elf maid warred intermittently for control with the corrupt intelligence inhabiting her magical blade over the next few decades. Black Lotus eventually lost her sanity entirely before finally regaining control over the moonblade, thus completing her family's descent into madness and depravity. She was responsible for numerous atrocities throughout the Inner Sea lands for many years before she sought to return to Myth Drannor and seize her "rightful inheritance." Black Lotus carried the moonblade into the ruined city and plundered a great deal of magic and treasure before being crushed to death in a long-abandoned crypt beneath the city. Normally she would have arisen as a groaning spirit, but the mythal, combined with the magic of the moonblade, warped the process. Black Lotus's spirit was completely absorbed into the moonblade, and the weapon acquired the ability to project a mythal ghost in her image that could wail like a banshee. Once the moonblade had completely absorbed Black Lotus's essence, it teleported itself out of Myth Drannor, seeking a new wielder. It searched for years seeking an elf related to the Starym clan finally locating Icathil Nimesin. Icathil's grandmother, Nielavei, was married off to the Nimesin clan after the fall of Myth Drannor in an effort to build an alliance but the Starym had little to offer at the time. Nielavei had a few children, one of which joined with his Starym cousin to help found the Eldreth Veluuthara. Icathil was a diviner curious of the past and his future. Devastated by the history of both of his families fall, he spent most of his days in drugged meditation. He ventured to Myth Drannor to learn the truth of his family. Once inside the mythal he attempted a legend lore that was warped by the mythal to show only the moonblade. He obsessed over the blade and eventually was successful in divining it's location. When he finally found the sword it was using a young gold elf which it promised power and wealth beyond his dreams. Icathil slew the elf without hesitation and claimed his family's inheritance. In celebration, Icathil, spent the next weeks in a drugged euphoria as sword stole his spirit, giving itself a thirst for knowledge and the ability to divine, locate, and communicate with any blood relative of the Starym clan or the clan's possessions. The moonblade used it's new abilities to keep Icathil in a dream-like state while using his body to move from place to place. It immediately began it's search for another heir. Appearance, Personality, & Goals Appearance This dark-hued blade has a straight edge and is engraved on each side in silver filigree with identical sets of elvish runes. Written in Espruar , the runes can be translated in order ascending from the hilt, as "amoral," "flee," "treasure seeker," "spirit stealer," "banshee," "dream catcher," and "judgement." A spiderweb of cracks appears to spread throughout the blade, but they have no effect on the blade's performance or durability. The steel hilt is smooth and unmarked, and the simple handle is wrapped in the hide of a black dragon. A black moonstone with a bluish sheen, an extremely rare variant of the more common moonstone worth well over 5,000 gold pieces and engraved with the sigil of the Starym clan (two falling silver dragons respectant) is set securely in the pommel. Regardless of what material its scabbard is made of, the blade turns the sheath black over time. Personality It is corrupt, rather cowardly with a strong streak of self-preservation, greedy, xenophobic(with respect to nonelves), power hungry, vengeful, and obsessive. The sword attempts to dominate anyone wileding it and is insufferably arrogant at all times. It particularly delights in killing humans and half-elves and prefers to employ its banshee wail against such victims. Sentient Statistics Darkmoon: 'AL CE; Int 17, Wis 17, Cha 10; Speech (archaic Elvish, Dwarvish, Gnim(Gnomish), Halfling), Telepathy, ability to Read, 120' Darkvision, Hearing; Ego 46 Lesser Power: +13 Knowledge (Local: Myth Drannor), +10 Bluff, +13 Sense Motive Special Purpose: Slay Humans and Half-Elves Dedicated Power: '''Crushing Despair '(Caster Level 20th; DC17) Curse: Darkmoon will become frightened at the sight of the house seal of the Irithyl clan and will become dormant if touched by it. Darkmoon can still communicate while dormant but can not dominate its wielder or activate any of its abilities. The powers of corruption from Moander will decay any sigil of Irithyl over time. A sigil written with ink may last a few seconds, where as a sigil carved in stone a few days. The longevity of the sigil is based on its material, magics, and relationship to the Tel'Quessir. Ego: +10 Moonblade, +3 Enchancement Bonus, +3 Weapon Abilities, +3 Lesser Powers, +4 Special Purpose, +1 Telepathy, +1 Ability to Read, +3 Intelligence modifier, +3 Wisdom modifier, +10 Greater Powers (Flee, Treasure Seeker, Banshee, Dream Catcher, Judgement), +4 Souls (Scourge, Black Lotus, Icathil Nimesin, Elavaire Starym), +1 Domination (Faelar Tarnruth) Goals Seek out the remaining members of the Starym clan to further enchance it's own power. After becoming nigh unstoppable, Darkmoon will seek to raise an army against the Throne of Evermeet to establish itself as the true leader of the Tel'Quessir. Statistics ''Darkmoon'': +3 Keen Human and Half-Elf Bane Sentient Longsword *'''Amoral: Initial Magic: +3 Keen, Darkmoon Bladerite, Evil Sentience *'Flee': Teleport without error itself and, if it chooses, it's current wielder, the blade or it's bearer is in danger (one-third of their total hit points) The destination is a random location within a 100-mile radius of the point of departure. It cannot teleport itself into or within the mythal of Myth Drannor, although it can successfully teleport out of the city. *'Treasure Seeker': Detect gems and precious metals within 100-yard radius at will *'Spirit Stealer:' Human and Half-elf Bane, Darkmoon chooses it's own new ability when bonding with a pure blooded elven descendant of House Starym *'Banshee': Unique Mythal Ghost of Black Lotus, Wail of the Banshee *'Dream Catcher': Darkmoon is able to project dreams into the mind of any Starym within a 500 mile radius. The dreams are complex riddles created by the minds of both Darkmoon and it's potiential heir. Because of its inherited thirst for knowledge it can also use the following spell-like abilities: Identify 3/day, Locate Object 3/day(Starym only), Detect Thoughts 3/day; Clairaudience/Clairvoyance 1/day, Locate Creature 1/day(Starym only), Scrying 1/day(Starym only), Legend Lore 1/day(Starym only), Sympathy(Starym only) 1/week. *'Judgement': On a natural roll of 20, should the strike be enough to kill the opponent, the sword can choose to absorb the soul of the opponent. The opponent is left alive but under a permanent Dominate Monster spell. Though the blade can choose to allow the creature to act naturally, it can command the creature at will as long as it can communicate with it. If the creature dies, it does not proceed to the afterlife and can never be ressurrected or raised as an undead. The blade can control a number of hit dice equal to it's wielders hit dice x10(Or the Mythal Ghosts' hit dice x10, which ever is greater). Should a creature governed by this ability attempt to resist, it receives a -20 to it's will save. Darkmoon's ego increases by 1 for every 10 hit dice it commands. Darkmoon Bladerite The Starym Moonblde can only be wielded safely by true elves of the Starym clan. Other elves may touch the blade or may be subjected to attack (by the blade's abilities or as below) at the blade's whim. Anyone else, regardless of alignments, that attempts to wield or carry the blade is struck by a lightning bolt resulting in 8d6 points of damage. Identical attacks occur every round until the blade is no longer physically held. Once bonded with the moonblade, a Starym elf cannot be separated from the blade for more than 24 hours, or immediate death results. Non-Starym elves and member of other races can never truly bond with the blade. Each time is bonds with a new descendant of the Starym family, the sword steals a small portion of it's bearer's spirit and gains one additional point of Ego,; the sword wielder loses 1 point each of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma permanently. Mythal Ghost Statistics Black Lotus (Starym): 'Sun Elf Fighter 6/Wizard 2/Bladesinger 2; CR 10; Medium Humanoid; HD 6d10+12 plus 2d4+4 plus 2d8+4;hp 57;Init +3;Spd 20 ft., fly 20 ft.;AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 10;Base Atk +9/+4;Grp +11; Atk +12 melee(1d8+4, longsword);Full Atk +12/+7 melee (1d8+4, longsword);SQ bladesong style, elf traits, lesser spellsong, low-light vision, mythal ghost traits; AL ;SV Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +7;Str 15, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 8, Cha 18. ''Skills and Feats: Balance +, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Evocation), Weapon Focus (Longsword), Weapon Specialization (Longsword) '''Bladesong Style (Ex): When wielding a longsword or rapier in one hand and nothing in the other, Black Lotus gains a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class Elf Traits (Ex): 'Immunity to magic ''sleep spells and effects; +2 bonus on saves against enchantments; entitled to a Search check when within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door. '''Lesser Spellsong (Ex): '''Black Lotus can take 10 when making a Concentration check to cast defensively. '''Low-light Vision (Ex): Black Lotus can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor visibility. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. Mythal Ghost Traits (Ex): Immunity to Fire, Cold, Psionics and Undead Attacks; Use feather fall at will (self only); if desired Black Lotus can move in complete silence; if destroyed or reduced to 0 hp the mythal ghost can be recreated in 1d6 days. Possessions: longsword Category:NPC Category:Sentient Item Category:Equipment Category:Darkmoon Anthology Category:Villain Category:Artifact